Lola Daly has just found out that her boyfriend - gorgeous, charming and powerful politician Paddy de Courcy - is getting married. To someone else. Heartbroken, Lola flees Dublin to a cottage in the countryside. Can a new set of friends help her to get over him? Journalist Grace Gildee wants the inside story on Paddy de Courcy's engagement. Lola refuses to talk the press but Grace won't give up. She knew Paddy a long time ago and hasn't forgotten him ...Marnie Hunter is Grace's twin sister. With a loving husband and two gorgeous daughters, Marnie seems to have it all. But she's haunted by memories. Memories that began with her first love - Paddy de Courcy. Can Marnie leave the past behind once and for all and move on with her life? Alicia Thornton is Paddy's wife-to-be. Determined to be the perfect wife, Alicia would do anything for her fiance. But does she know the real Paddy? Four women. One man. And a secret that binds them all.

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Product description

Review

Four very different women, one awfully charming man and a dark secret that binds them all . . . Marian Keyes' This Charming Man follows women who have been caught in a web of modern love. 'Everybody remembers where they were the day they heard that Paddy de Courcy was getting married' * from the publishers' description * The laughs come fast and furious . . . a gripping, compelling tale * Sunday Independent * The queen of page-turners . . . brimming with her trademark down-to-earth wit * Cosmopolitan * Gripping from the start . . . the master at her best * Daily Telegraph * It takes real talent to make a reader laugh and cry . . . the story will stay with you long after you've read the last page * Heat * It takes real talent to make a reader laugh and cry ... the story will stay with you long after you've read the last page * Heat * It takes real talent to make a reader laugh and cry ... the story will stay with you long after you've read the last page * Heat *

From the Back Cover

'Don't you dare be happy, you bastard. That's what I thought when I heard. Don't you dare be happy'

Slick, handsome politician Paddy de Courcy is on the up. His party is set do well in the elections and he's just announced his engagement to the beautiful Alicia. Which is news to his girlfriend, Lola, who, within hours, finds herself dumped and warned not to talk to the press.

Yet journalist Grace is on the prowl. She has been after Paddy ever since he ruined her sister Marnie's life way back in college. Grace is looking for the inside story and thinks Lola holds the key.

But do any of them know the real Paddy?

Four very different women.One awfully charming man.And the dark secret that binds them all . . .

'So funny, so perceptive, so real. I changed my life for this book' Mail on Sunday

Top customer reviews

Have discovered the joy of Marian Keyes books quite late in my life (not sure why) but so glad I have. This book seems to be about lots of different women but they all have one thing in common - a very charming but (secretly) abusive politician. Having Irish roots myself I can just see the countryside & the old houses & people just as they're written. A fantastic book with a great twist at the end. I'd give it 10 stars if I could.

What a book. Ostensibly a light read but this contains descriptions and word pictures of difficult (and violent) situations. It confronts two of the major issues of major concern to us all - violence against women and the use of alcohol. It is also laugh out loud funny in parts. Written from different characters' points of view it is cleverly constructed and cleverly plotted..Highly recommended. So pleased to have found an intelligent funny important writer - thank you to Desert Island Discs (BBCRadio 4) on which I heard Marion Keyes.

Im not entirely sure this is a marian keyes book, it doesnt seem like her style at all, her other books are great, funny, witty and well written but this book seems odd and its not an enjoyable read with short sentences and a lack of Is, mes, and mys, iv never read a book quite like this and i dont really think il be able to finish it, it just seems to be getting worse as i go through. Also the storyline, what a way to make women sound pathetic when they have been dumped, ruining her career and running off to stay in a cabin seems a bit dramatic.

What a great read! I've come to Marian Keyes recently and found This Charming Man very funny, deeply moving and so well written in terms of alcoholism and domestic violence. Don't be put off - there is so much fun in this book too!My favourite character was Lola and laughed out loud several times when she was rattling round Knockavoy. I simply could not stop reading it and got very irritated when my life intervened.So, for me, the best Marian Keyes yet.

I, like many others, have enjoyed Marian Keys from her Watermelon, Rachel's Holiday etc days. There WERE things about this book which I found difficult - Lola's style of writing took some getting used to, but this was a book about REAL women who are disempowered by an attractive but controlling man. Unlike other readers I wasn't looking for the formulaic - woman has bad time with bad man and then good man rescues her novel, I was wanting to read an author who CLEARLY understands real life - in Marian's case, if I'm not mistaken, the life of an alcoholic (which was portrayed in all it's frustrating realism), but also the process of recovery which was shown in a sometimes funny sometimes painful way. I am really looking forward to my second read of this book (in probably a year's time - I read all my books a number of times) when I will be able to enjoy this book from another angle, and relax into knowing the characters more. Marian please - if you read this please keep moving forward and don't be tempted by those who have said they were disappointed to move back to the formulaic style which often characterises first novels. You have a real talent and I look forward to whatever you bring us next.

Marian Keyes is a wonderful author, read all her books and this is one of my favourites. Not sure how much to say without giving a lot of the plot away, but it starts off as a bit of a light hearted, you think you know what to expect, chick lit but soon delves much deeper into peoples lives and rapidly becomes a much darker read. Wonderful book. Only minor niggle is the way Lola's part was written; short terse sentences a bit like Bridget Jones writes in her diary. Read any Marian Keyes book and you wont be disappointed.

Books which have several narrators, as this one does, can be confusing. This one manages to avoid the pitfalls. I found the Lola segments irritating because of the Bridget Jones-speak but they also contained some of the funniest scenes with the cross dressers.

This Charming Man deals with some very serious issues and deals with them well in my opinion. The tension builds up and even if you've worked out what's going on some of the scenes are still shocking. I felt that maybe the ending was a bit too trite and it leaves some important loose ends hanging - ready for another book perhaps?I found the characters convincing apart from Damian who was just a bit too good to be true. I would love to see more of Dee Rossini who seemed like an interesting person, as was Lola in fact in spite of the style in which her sections were written.

I'm not a particular MK fan though I really enjoyed `The Other Side of the Story'. `This Charming Man' is every bit as good as that and I recommend it as an example of chick lit with a bite.

A good read but some chapters much too long and then gets a speedy ending. Appropriate for a holiday read, however don't think I would have "stuck with it" had I not been on the beach and had lots of time to fill. This is first Marian Keyes book I've read, and when next on holiday perhaps may try ano of her books but won't rush into it. A very popular writer but ......